


If this is Love

by carsinoska



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 09:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8839231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carsinoska/pseuds/carsinoska
Summary: The world's been saved and Moment is kept in check by the Fortune program. Antinomy, Aporia, Paradox, and Z-one are all able to meet despite their vastly different lives and they even remember their past incarnations.It seems like a perfect ending, so something must be bound to go wrong, no?For week 2 of the YGOTP challenge (prompt: where are we going?).





	

**Author's Note:**

> "If this is what is called love,  
> Then won't it come to an end [eventually](http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm24624795/)?"

What a strange twist of fate. Paradox was almost certain that time travel was not supposed to work this way. He had spent countless years researching the after effects of it, after all. The fact that he even remembered spending all those years looking into time travel was not correct. Why did he remember the past? In this present, there was no threat of the Machine Emperors, not even the slightest sign that Moment would spin out of control, and Fudo Yusei’s Fortune program was still working its magic. They had saved the future. Yet, somehow, he remembered that past.

Not only that, but he was already close friends with Z-one, Antinomy, and even Aporia. They met each other in high school. In his past lifetime, he only knew of Z-one from seeing his name in the occasional scientific journal, Antinomy from seeing him on TV, and never even heard of Aporia. Strangely enough, the three of them also remembered the past. Paradox wasn’t sure if such a thing could be called good luck or bad luck.

Antinomy looked the same as always, wild hair slicked back with copious amounts of gel. Z-one looked nothing like Yusei, with a shrinking violet feeling about him, but Paradox had had years to get used to his appearance. Aporia’s appearance, however, always made him look twice. It was the same Aporia, he could tell, by his way of talking and mannerisms but he looked so much like Placido. Z-one had told them that Placido’s appearance was really based off of Aporia in his younger ages, but Paradox had a hard time wrapping his head around it. Seeing Aporia’s sunny demeanor coupled with Placido’s appearance was rather disorienting.

For years, he wondered if the world was conspiring against them, somehow. The circumstances were too well aligned, too perfect. When would things start to fall apart?

As it turned out, Z-one had the answer to that question.

“Hey, I saw Eurea the other day…” he told Antinomy and Paradox. They all happened to have a break at the same time. Aporia, however, had class.

“Eurea?” Antinomy asked.

“Oh, right, I suppose you wouldn’t know. Eurea was Aporia’s, ah…”

“...Ex-lover,” Paradox said quietly.

“A-ah you know too, don’t you, Paradox. Ha ha… Yes, she was his companion back in that past. They met when he joined the resistance against, you know...” They were careful not to be too explicit with the details of what happened in the past, lest it incite the wrath of the forces that be. Perhaps it was paranoid, but better to be safe than sorry.

“Oh, I see,” Antinomy said. He cast Paradox a concerned look. 

“Should we tell Aporia?” Z-one asked. He was mostly looking at Paradox as well.

Paradox was conflicted. He knew how much Aporia loved her, even years after her death. He had told Paradox about her often, in the past. Aporia wanted to change the future so that she could have the life she deserved. Presumably, that was a life that Aporia shared with her. Back then, Paradox could hardly be jealous of a dead person. Aporia loved her, yes, but he had had many long years to come to terms with his loss. Now she was very much alive though, and Paradox didn’t know how he should feel.

That was a silly thought, he knew. He didn’t even know her personally, only heard of her through Aporia, and he was sure she was a great person. If Aporia loved her so much, it must be true. He should have been happy for Aporia and agreed with Z-one to tell him without a moment of hesitation. But he was petty and selfish, and probably the worst person he knew. Still, while he harboured such feelings, he wasn’t so shallow as to act on them.

“I… I guess we should tell him,” Paradox said eventually.

“We could just pretend we never saw her, you know?” Antinomy suggested. He didn’t have ill intentions, but he was just trying to minimize the possible damage to his friends.

“If Z-one saw her, it’s only a matter of time Aporia finds out himself. It’s fine, really. I appreciate your sentiment,” Paradox said.

Z-one nodded. “I just wanted to get your opinion first, yes? But I suppose I’ll tell him.”

This was probably the correct course of history. Straying away from it any further could be dangerous. That’s what Paradox told himself.

  


* * *

  


Instead of eating lunch with the rest of them, these days Aporia liked to eat with Eurea. Paradox expected that much. Aporia was free to do as he wished. That didn’t stop him from a terrible, aching void in his chest that made his heart clench though. He tried to hide his mood from Antinomy and Z-one, but there was only so much you could hide from people who technically knew you for decades.

“Woah… Are you okay?” Antinomy asked him.

“Hm? Yes, of course…”

“Paradox, if there’s something you need to say to Aporia, you should do it,” Z-one said.

“A-Aporia? Who said this has anything to do with Aporia? T-there’s nothing I have to say to him,” Paradox denied. He couldn’t very well pour his heart out to another so carelessly, in any case.

In the past, Aporia was like a symbol of hope to him. Z-one was a symbol of hope too, but more in the sense that as the last humans on Earth, the least they could do was try to save it. Rather, Aporia gave him a reason to see that goal to the end. Aporia lived through so many hardships and still came out with such a strong love for humanity. Though Paradox also endured hardships, they were nowhere near as close to Aporia’s struggles. Perhaps he could become a better person if he was more like Aporia.

Eventually, they gravitated towards one another on some silly principle that fellow androids should look out for each other. They were closer than friends, but nothing like lovers. Yet, now, they acted as though certain aspects of the past never happened, skirting around each other. Paradox took those days for granted, thinking that such days would never end.

“You really should talk to him. So you’ll stop moping,” Antinomy said.

“I am _not_ moping,” Paradox snapped.

Z-one coughed. “In any case, please try to work things out. It’ll make you feel better.”

  


* * *

  


“It’s rare that you ask for my company,” Aporia said.

Paradox, reluctantly following Z-one and Antinomy’s advice, had asked Aporia out for lunch. Just something casual between friends, he told himself. That was normal.

“What? Oh yes, about that.” Paradox cleared his throat. “We… I mean, ah.” The words refused to come out like he’d practiced them in his head. He blushed at his own blunder. “You. And I. That is to say, us. Where do we stand?”

Aporia looked at him with slight confusion. “We’re eternal friends, of course,” he said with such a straight face that made Paradox blush even more. He also called Z-one and Antinomy his eternal friends, so Paradox wasn’t too surprised, but Aporia’s brutal honesty was much too endearing.

“That’s it, right?”

“Well, ‘eternal friend’ means a lot to me, you know. We’ve been through so much together, with everyone, and it’s the least I can say after you all helped me. Even when I was on the verge of giving up hope, you and everyone else were there.”

“E-enough. I understand. Then, you and Eurea…?”

“What do you mean, me and Eurea…? We are also friends…?”

“But weren’t you two… You know?”

Aporia smiled sadly. “Yes, that’s true… But now is a different story. I remember the past, and she doesn’t… It’s almost like I’m too old for her. Yet, I miss her so much… She’s still the same as I remember, but happier, maybe. I thought it would be easy to pretend like that ruined world never existed, but I can’t forget it,” Aporia said, looking straight into Paradox’s eyes. “Or maybe I don’t want to forget it.”

Paradox quickly averted his eyes. Eye contact at such close proximity was unnerving. “So you two are also just friends.”

“That’s right. Even though I still love her, things can’t be the same as I would have liked them to be many, many years ago.”

Paradox nodded. He hated himself for being so relieved, but he couldn’t help it.

“There’s another reason for your questions, isn’t there, Paradox?” Aporia asked.

He wanted to deny Aporia’s claim, but the other silenced him with a sharp frown. “Well, you aren’t wrong,” Paradox said. “And what, exactly, do you suppose I mean?” He asked in a feeble attempt to avoid the question.

“I’m not that naive, you know.”

“No, of course you’re not. I know that.” Paradox drew circles on the table idly, hoping that Aporia would drop the topic. However, Aporia didn’t say anything either and waited for him to continue. “Y-you are also my… eternal friend,” he said quietly. “A very important, irreplaceable person.”

Aporia’s face turned red. He was surely expecting such words, but he was still embarrassed.

“If you weren’t there in that ruined world, I’m not sure what I would have done. And if you weren’t here with me in this present, then surely all of our struggles would have been in vain. For me, at least,” Paradox said. “That is to say… Aporia, shall we continue to be eternal friends?”

“Of course!” Aporia said firmly. He stood up and went to Paradox’s side to envelop him in a warm embrace. Paradox flinched momentarily, but softly returned the gesture. He smiled, face pressed lightly against Aporia’s chest.

Perhaps they had worked hard enough to earn a happy ending. Paradox had a hard time believing that, given things like Murphy’s law and the nature of entropy. But wrapped in Aporia’s arms, he felt that somehow, it would be alright.


End file.
